True, but everytime it's a guilty pleasure. These games are addictive (for people who like the HoM&M-like style, that is). The game music is a good part of that pleasure, too. Indeed, probably the best TBS game series around these days.

Tried it a bit, sadly the results are very inconsistent to the point they make no sense at all, even between levels of detail (you can get a higher score on highest setting and a lower one on lower setting.. just pure randomness). Looks like the scene is generated at random, which explains the wild variation.

@Ray: about challenge. I read something recently about challenge being the defining quality about a game, far ahead of everything else. Of course it's tightly linked to what we call "gameplay" as a bad gameplay in a challenging game is just frustrating. It's a matter of balance. Very challenging games with good gameplay become cult classics. Schoolbook example is Deus Ex which was bloody difficult compared to today's standards. We could cite many examples here, but you get my point - i think we are in a time where producers remove the "challenge" element from their games thinking it's adverse to good sales, which is completely wrong. One only hopes the industry will come around full circle and give us back some really challenging games, and those with good gameplay will become the new cult classics - as of now we are still defining all games against classics of 10-15 years ago, which is not a good sign.

I for one liked many aspects of Deadly Shadows. Actually even if it didnt feel exactly like the first two iterations of the series (the second one being the best IMHO) it had some really unforgettable moments (pointing at Shalebridge Cradle, here, the fall of the clocktower was also an "OH SH**" moment) which cannot be said of many games. Roaming the streets was nice. I felt immersed in the story, and for this i think it was successful. Thief was always all about immersion. I just hope this new one is still able to do it (removing the consoleitis helps is a first step i guess).

Jerykk, i am a veteran Thief player (bought the first one, still got the box somewhere) and to be honest i'm between both sides at the moment. I pre-ordered the new game so i'll see how it is by myself, there is too much emotional charge on both sides of the argument.One thing that you have to remember though, is what made Thief great was its *immersion*. Immersive gameplay was certainly a specialty of Looking Glass, for that they used a lot of small tricks that add up to make the magic happen. Miss one, and suspension of disbelief is broken.And in these tricks the most important ones were the ambient sounds, audio cues, and yes, voice acting. Everything clicked together just perfectly in a delicate alchemy. Thief was well known for having fantastic audio, with (at the time) revolutionary 3D positioning, echoes and muffling, etc.This delicate alchemy (along with the story writing and acting) actually made the game what it is, a cult classic, otherwise it would have been quickly forgotten as technically it was sub par.Add to this an *emergent* gameplay (yes.) that let the player do whatever he wanted to in order to complete the game (within the "stealth only" domain, of course) - i'm not sure any studio today has got this kind of vision that Looking Glass had at the time. They made games without any compromise on gameplay.Here what i'm worried about, is compromises. Compromising the voice acting, not a good sign. Compromising the basic gameplay elements that defined the series, not a good sign.At least admit there are elements that justify being worried.

The new Amnesia is more about the story, less about the same scare tactics employed in the first opus. Why not, after all people would have complained if it was just more of the same.The story is compelling, well told. It works for me, the themes are good, suprising, thought provoking.My complaint is it's far too short. I admit the main story doesnt lend itself to much more but how about expanding some side stories, give more depth to that location ? The game production has been given to an indie studio, i hope the main studio is busy preparing something good and more substantial in the mean time.

Yeah there is definitely no hand holding and the interface is hardcore. Almost like an old school RPG. The gameplay and story are deep and 110% cyberpunk. For whoever loves the genre (and its signature multiple layers of reality and evasive endings) this one is a must have.

Nice to see Antichamber there.Also, Arma series still occupies a spot. How long has this been, i remember seeing Arma II since forever, now Arma III. I could understand for the previous opus that people got it for DayZ, but how about the III, by itself it's a very hardcore, niche game.. i find this interesting.

Orogogus wrote on Apr 2, 2013, 14:33:I did get a lot of mileage out of the original Dark Project intro video, which was all they dribbled out (plus a very vague webpage) for a long, long time. Must have watched that thing a hundred times.

But to be honest, the original Dark Project (title of Thief 1) videos and 2 and 3 too were animated paintings, which were both original and very full of atmosphere. A very thick, dark, oppressive atmosphere. I didnt get this feeling from the CGI movie they just posted.

Cant wait to see the result, and if they kept the incredible atmosphere of the series. And the animated paint cut scenes as well. And Garrett's voice actor. And the very powerful, evoluted 3D sound engine. And the "no kill, ever" mode..

I didnt have that much fun since Titan Quest + Immortal Throne ! And that says a lot.Finally the maze-like passive skill tree is not so impressive after getting used to it, and the active skill build was IMHO more interesting in TQ/IT. Here the gem system sounds like a good idea but is quickly limited, and the skills lack the huge variety that was found in TQ. Otherwise the game is pretty well executed now, grim, intense, very dark in mood (especially the last act !), and musics are top notch (again, act 3 really shines).There is an obvious missing act 4 i guess (and it goes a lot like TQ here, on many aspects), this will hopefully come later.That last patch brought a bit more shine and IMHO it's already quite superior to Diablo 3, or otherwise put it's what D3 should have been.

Regarding the article, i know that OLED displays with refresh rates at 240Hz do exist as they are integrated in modern cameras today. Olympus next camera should even push the limit on this (probably 240Hz still, but higher resolution). There is not such a huge leap between OLED viewfinder technology and OLED VR display technology..

I played the first Nexus:TJI and back then had a hard time to get past the first mission, but past that it became more and more enjoyable, with a nice story unfolding through the campaign. I will certainly watch this new installment closely.

Yeah actually with over 1 million copies they are in AAA territory already. Please guys continue doing games with such a strong artistic direction, and try not to fall into the trap of dumbing down stuff like other "AAA" game companies tend to do.

ASeven wrote on Sep 4, 2012, 14:57:I remember when FASA introduced the Horrors on the SR universe. I was an Earthdawn GM (and I still stick even today to my opinion it was the best original fantasy setting ever made for RPGs) and wondered how the future Earth in Shadowrun would be able to fend off those fuckers.

Basically, they dont. The very few people who are really aware of this menace and how to fight them (and the related use of filament magic) are Harlequin & co, who are not taken seriously by anyone to start with. So apart from a certain cyber-dead great dragon who's busy fending them no one cares. I am an Eearthdawn GM too btw And i enjoyed playing through the SR2 campaigns a lot. SR3 not as much..Anyway, "fighting one horror" was a campaign-long scenario, or even a complete suicide mission (or one for the crazy horror hunters in ED). Dont think it's much suitable for a classic RPG style, if you really want that just play Amnesia it's the closest to the experience it would be.The more classic "infiltrate / exfiltrate / hit / steal .." run scenarios would be nice already, and i hope for a good campaign editor so we can get some epic ones in the future (ohh that Arcology campaign, memories..)